Ruinous Axum

Africa Hotel was fine and at 200 ETB (£7.20) per room per night and free airport transfer we were more than happy.  The hotel had a bar and a restaurant and an outside drinking area but we were plagued by boys who wanted to clean our shoes for an extortionate 20ETB a pair.  They weren’t allowed to cross the low chained area but it didn’t stop them calling out constantly. Because there were very few tourists they tended to sit there waiting for us so in the end we used to drink our beer inside.

The capital city of Ethiopia has moved from place to place over the centuries, I guess for different economic and political reasons, but Ethiopian history is discussed in terms of pre, post and Axumite periods.   

Axum is therefore a significant historical place and thus full of ruins!

Axum 1901 

Axum 2012

Axum  Stelae (grave stones to commemorate kinds)

Axum Stelae in pieces 

Axum – Martin and Measure

Axum – close-up of measure 

Axum landscape 1

Axum landscape 2 

Axum - Queen of Sheba's Baptism Pool

Axum Cathedral

Axum Cathedral- shrine to Mary

Axum Cathedral - Mary and Jesus 

Axum – outskirts of town

Axum – Jennifer at the Yeha Temple - Stelee

Axum – Yeha Temple 

Plane Journeys

We casually mentioned to our tour guide that we needed to sort out a bus to Axum for the next day and asked where we could get a ticket.  We had heard that the scenery was particularly wonderful from Gondar to Axum and so were happy to travel by bus rather than plane.  He threw his hands up in horror and said that even if tickets were available (we would have to buy them at 5 the next morning and it was most likely to be full anyway) the journey was very bad.  The roads were terrible and what’s more we would have to get two buses and probably would have to stay over in between the buses.  We were convinced that a one hour plane journey was a better alternative, but the problem was that the Ethiopian Airline office was now closed.  If you recall from an earlier blog entry our attempt to buy a ticket as we flew was doomed and so our tour organiser made lots of calls said that there were seats at the moment and told us to be ready at 6 in the morning in the reception area and he would make sure that seats were still available before we set off for the airport.

All went well.  The only fly in the ointment was his attempts to squeeze more money out of us by casually letting us know that he had had a bad night because of a kidney stone and he made a good job of hobbling.  I was suspicious, but you know.  However I thought it was suspect when he was still humping our bags when there was another boy doing it.  Gillian, full of heart and compassion was quite distressed about it and wanted to give him money.  In the end no more money (other than a hefty tip for getting us to the airport with flights despite us being unorganised) passed hands and when we later told Dawit from the school he raised his eyes and said yes it was a scam.  So we did the right thing.  But see what I mean?  The leeching is really hard-core.

As I passed through the personal x-ray I set off the alarm.  The male attendant looked me up and down (only as far as 12 inches under my chin) and pronounced that it was my “Breast holder”.  I was duly sent to a curtained off cubicle to be de-bleeped.  The female attendant literally came up to 12 inches below my chin which was quite amusing.  Even more amusing was that my sister, next in line, also set off the alarm.  We were all alarmed when from behind the curtain we heard those immortal and most feared words “Bend over please”.  Standing close by ready to pounce on hearing “JEN!!!!” she came out in one piece.  Our vertically challenged attendant wanted to check her flip flops.

Internal flights are quite nice.  However, no one told us that the flight went from Gondar to Lalibela and then to Axum.  It’s like going from Liverpool to London to Edinburgh. We got up to get off at Lalibela thinking we were at Axum.

Walking to our plane

Little ain’t she? 

While we were waiting for our luggage to turn up I suddenly realised I’d left my handbag under the seat on the plane.  All our money, cards, passport were in it.  I ran out of the arrivals lounge like a scalded cat onto the runway area waving my arms.  What was I thinking?  Did I really think that the plane would stop as if I was hailing down a car?  I heard shouting behind me and two guys driving the luggage carrier were waving and one of them was holding my bag in the air.  What a bloody relief!

I was kind of sure that Africa Hotel had been mentioned as a good place to stay but maybe it had been reported as not so good, I couldn’t quite remember.  So we decided that we would go there and see what it was like and find somewhere else if we didn’t like it.  Fortunately, there was a man with a sign saying “Africa Hotel” as we came through the airport and so we had free airport transfer as well.

Kidnapped by a Tuk-tuk driver in beautiful Bahir Dar

On our first afternoon we caught a tuktuk into the town centre to see if we could organize our travel to Gondar; having learned from experience that sooner than later is the best policy in Ethiopia.  He was a friendly chappie, our tuk-tuk driver, chatting away unintelligibly, but we were cool about it as it added to the atmosphere of being squashed into the back of his little vehicle.

“Just here please!” we said when we arrived into what we recognized as the kind of town centre.  Jabber-Jabber ignored us and carried on jabbering.  On we went, up this road and down this road, being thrown around all over the place as he took his corners tight.  At one point another tuk-tuk or van (we never found out which) hit us up the arse as we didn’t accelerate as expectedly.  It was like we were being kidnapped! We were taken on a tour of the town without checking with us first and then ignored all requests to stop in the town.  

By this time (after 20 minutes) it was pelting down and we had seen enough roads built by the Chinese for a lifetime.  Finally he stopped and then wanted 50Birr.  I gave him 10 and he argued like billyo.  This is all so exhausting, arguing over money at every point we look.   We walked around and found Hotel Papyrus. We had steak and chips with a dollop of no-harassment and it was great.

Inside view of the outside view from a Tuk-Tuk - stationery

Inside view of the outside view from a Tuk-Tuk – moving

Pimp my Tuk-Tuk

Inside view of the inside view of a Tuk-Tuk

There were signs up everywhere in town “Congratulations!” It was University graduation weekend and there were lots of people walking around in full graduation gowns or suits, carrying bunches of flowers.  Many people and their families had come for the weekend and it there was a very festive atmosphere.

Went back to hotel and told the reception guy about the trips we wanted to do and also asked how we could get to Gondar.  He sorted it.  For a mere 1500ETB we could all go to on boat trip across Lake Tana and visit the island monasteries and then in the afternoon go to the Blue Nile falls.  The next day we could get a minibus to Gondar – he would phone and they would come and pick us up at the hotel.  Sorted and happy we went to bed looking forward to our trips the next day.

A memorable bus journey

We may have been loaded onto the bus but it was another hour and a half before we actually moved out onto the road to Bahir Dar.  We stopped to pick up several more passengers and the bus became more and more crowded.  There were a lot of phone calls by the driver presumably to pick up new passengers and the “Bus Conductor” liked having the roll of notes in his hand and counting them continually.  He could hang on to the bus as it moved away and at the last moment slide in and slide the door closed at the last minute.  It was a big show of look at me “Who’s the Daddy?”

After an hour and a half we actually set off to our destination and bumped along the road squashed up for the anticipated 4 hour journey, expecting to arrive at around 3.30 in the morning.  We tried to sleep so that we would be as fresh as possible when we arrived.  After about 20 minutes we were stopped by armed police / army who checked everyone’s passport; fortunately to his satisfaction and he slammed the door shut without asking us for identification.  Evidently not looking for foreigners. The door opened again and another army bloke just casually looked at us three sitting there and then shut the door again.   We could hear laughter from the others side of door and can only assume that we were the source of some amusement for them.  Maybe it was our tense little faces squashed together in the dark that gave them such a buzz!

I think our driver was living on the coke side of life

We slept most of the time and then we were suddenly woken with a jolt and a loud bang.  The mini-bus stopped and we were all a bit confused, having been asleep and being suddenly woken.  Everyone got out and we realized that the wing mirror on the driver’s side had been taken off by another vehicle.  It didn’t surprise me as we had had a few near misses earlier in the journey.  Of course the drivers are nothing like the crazies in Georgia, they just ride a bit close to the wind.

On closer inspection the driver’s side of the door as bashed in as well and Martin pointed out the skid marks on the road.  Evidently he had been driving on the wrong side of the road and then made a very quick turn to avoid an oncoming vehicle and it had clipped the minibus then went on without stopping.  However, some activity a couple of hundred feet behind us showed us that a lorry was upturned and in the ditch.  The collision had caused the lorry to swerve and drive into the ditch.  No-one was hurt miraculously but when you think about it - and we don’t like to of course, we could have been killed.

We all climbed back in the van and the driver sat in the back – he had been replaced by another driver ad went on our way.  We stopped for about half an hour at 4 in the morning at a bar / hotel and this provided a convenient loo stop and time to eat.  Then we were on our way again.  It was still dark and it was obvious that the 4 hour estimated travel time was not gonna happen.  At around 5 am there appeared on the side of the road ghostly apparitions.  This turned out to be women clothed in white with white blankets / shawls over their heads and they were emerging from an opening at the side and spilling out onto the road.  As we drove on, more and more appeared.  They didn’t look like they were going to market so I wondered if it was a religious thing.   I checked later and there is a religious week where women go to mass and process through the streets.  Don’t know quite what it is about but will find out more.

There were no more exciting events except that we were unceremoniously dumped at the bus station (not a bus station as we know it more like a seedy backstreet at the back of some houses)  despite the diver being told to take us to the hotel.   Our ‘friend’ at the hotel had sad that The Extreme hotel was to be recommended but we decided to take our power back and told the tuktuk driver to take us to the Lake Tana Hotel.  How we squeezed into this moped come tricycle with a hood, with all our luggage is yet to be discovered but we were duly taken to our destination and dropped off for the princely price of 15 birr.  I had tried haggling to 10 much to the disgust of Martin who simply is incapable of haggling (he has to go for a walk and smoke a cigarette) but he was having none of it and I was too knackered after what turned out to be 11 hours crushed into a minibus.

Lake Tana hotel is a 70s built concrete hotel in the style of a safari lodge if you can imagine.  We dumped our bags in our very nice rooms and had breakfast overlooking the lake.